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FinlandThe Land of

Islands and Waters

The Island Committee

No hidden vale, no wavewashed strandNo hidden vale, no wavewashed strandis loved, as is our native North.is loved, as is our native North.Our Land, the Finnish National AnthemLyrics by JL Runeberg 1846Translation by Clement Burbank Shaw

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Dear Reader■ Finland is the country richest in waters and one of the richest in islands in Europe. We boast 76,000 islands that cover over half a hectare in area, 56,000 lakes over one hectare, 647 rivers and 314,000 km of coastline. Every Finnish municipality has waters, almost all of them have islands. Every island, lake and river has a special place in the hearts of Finnish people. This brochure has been created to illustrate these unique riches of ours.

■ The multitude of islands and waters makes the Finnish land-scape fragmented, creating extra costs for the economy as well as the State and municipalities, but it is also a unique strength for us. Our islands, sea areas, lakes, rivers and coastline are positive regional development factors in a world where living is increasingly made by producing experiences and adventures.

■ Recreational residences (1.9 million people staying at recreation-al homes), boating (700,000 boats), recreational fi shing (1.2 million fi shermen and women), nature enthusiasts and tourists ensure that our islands and waters and their development are issues that touch the entire nation. Finland is the number one boating nation in Europe.

■ The islands and waters are the operating area of many public authorities, including the Defence Forces, the Frontier Guard, the police, the district rescue departments, the Finnish Maritime Administration (commuter ferries, fairways, ports, charting, assist-ance of winter navigation), the Finnish Road Administration (ferries and cable ferries), the Finnish Institute of Marine Research, the en-vironmental authorities, the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute and other fi sheries authorities as well as the National Board of Antiquities.

■ Finland’s policy on the islands balances the adverse effects that arise from the fact that our country is broken up by water bodies and utilises the country’s islands and richness in waters as regional development factors. The Island Development Act and the Island Development Programme are important tools in this work. Consid-eration for biodiversity as well as cultural and landscape factors form an essential part of the Finnish islands policy.

■ The Government has set the objective of developing island and lake tourism into a European attraction factor and recreational resi-dence into a foundation supporting rural development. There are excellent prerequisites for this. Finland offers its own citizens and foreign visitors a safe environment to experience the warmth of the summer, the russet colours of the autumn, the snow and ice of the winter and the brightness of the spring on our numerous islands and vast sea and freshwater areas.

We wish you pleasant read.

The Island CommitteeThe Ministry of the Interior

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et us take a look at islands fi rst. Greece has approximately 1,400 is-lands, Denmark around 500. These

well-known island nations do not, however, get anywhere near the three northern Euro-pean ‘continental’ nations, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Finland has 76,000 islands that are over half-hectare in area. When every island covering at least a hundred square metres in area is included in the count, we reach a total of 178,947. Finland also takes the lead in comparison with Sweden in the number of large lakes, despite the fact that Sweden is larger in area than Finland. Although Norway also has a lot of islands,

The Sulkava Rowing Race is the biggest row-ing event in the world. The route around the island of Partalansaari is over 60 km, and in recent years the number of participants has been around ten thousand. The team long-boat race is a particularly popular category, but there are always plenty of partici-pants in the singles and doubles races, too.

Which European country is therichest in islands and lakes?

their steep rocky shores are often more diffi cult to utilise for tourism and recrea-tion than the gentler Finnish terrain. The country richest in islands in the world is Canada.

The well-known island nations also remain far behind Finland in the number of inhabited islands. Although many of our is-lands are linked to the mainland by bridges, Finland still has 455 islands with year-round habitation that are without a permanent road connection to the mainland. In Greece such islands total a little over two hundred and in Denmark around one hundred. More than 200,000 Finns live on islands with a

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0.5 ha–1 km2 1—10 km2 Over 10 km2 Total 1. Varsinais-Suomi 9,687 145 21 9,853 2. Etelä-Savo 8,918 101 5 9,024 3. Lapland 8,594 60 3 8,657 4. Åland 8,014 77 14 8,105 5. Pohjois-Savo 5,229 46 1 5,276 6. North Karelia 4,386 42 5 4,433 7. Ostrobothnia 4,187 51 11 4,010 8. Central Finland 3,971 37 2 4,010 9. Uusimaa 3,665 23 3 3,69210. Pirkanmaa 2,897 9 2,90611. North Ostrobothnia 2,570 12 1 2,58312. Satakunta 2,493 12 1 2,50613. South Karelia 2,151 29 4 2,18414. Kainuu 1,933 14 1 1,94815. Itä-Uusimaa 1,783 20 3 1,80516. Kymenlaakso 1,618 16 1,63417. Päijät-Häme 1,318 14 1 1,33318. Central Ostrobothnia 623 3 62619. Kanta-Häme 512 1 51320. South Ostrobothnia 480 1 481TOTAL 75,029 713 76 75,818

Finnish islands by region

road connection – including almost 50,000 people in the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

Almost 100,000 of the Finnish islands – more than half of them – are located in a lake or river. Indeed, the number of fresh-water islands in Finland ranks very close to the top in global comparison. Finnish fresh-water areas have more than 150 islands with year-round habitation and without a bridge connection.

Finland is also the country richest in the world in waters. Our freshwater areas total 33,000 km2 and account for ten per cent of the area of Finland. In addition, the area of Finland covers 52,760 km2 of sea, and we have 647 rivers. The length of the Finnish coastline is 314,000 km – an amazing eight times around the Earth. The coastline of the other European countries is generally only a fraction of the Finnish coastline.

Floating timber in the River Pielisjoki. Floating has been an important mode of transporting timber, particularly in our freshwater areas. As late as in the early 1980s, the annual vol-ume of timber fl oated was almost ten million cubic metres, with a fi fth of this fl oated in the sea. Today, fl oating is still an important activity in the water system of the eastern Finnish River Vuoksi.

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The largest sea areasThe largest sea areas are located in the regions of Åland, Ostrobothnia and Varsinais-Suomi. Itä-Uusimaa is also a major sea region in proportion to its area.

Finland´s largest lakesFinland’s largest lakes are Saimaa, Inari, Päijänne, Oulujärvi, Pielinen, Haukivesi, Orivesi-Paasivesi, Kallavesi, Keitele, Pyhä-selkä-Jänisselkä, Pihlajavesi, Puulavesi, Puruvesi, Lokka, Höytiäinen, Näsijärvi, Suvasvesi, Juojärvi, Kemijärvi and Yli-Kitka.

Hailuoto is the third largest sea island in Finland. Its popula-tion has been on the increase: in 1980 it was 897, in 2004 there were 979 islanders. The island also has 700 recreational resi-dents.

Finland’s largest islands in sea areasNo Name Municipality Area (km2)1. Mainland Åland Total of 7 municipalities 6852. Kimito Kimito, Dragsfjärd, 524 Västanfjärd, Halikko3. Hailuoto Hailuoto 1954. Replot Korsholm 1605. Aasla/Otava Rymättylä 1056. Lemland Lemland 927. Eckerö Eckerö 918. Öja Kokkola, Larsmo 909. Storlandet Nagu 7210. Ålön Pargas 7011. Kyrklandet Korpo 6412. Kivimaa Kustavi 5713. Pyhämaa Uusikaupunki 5314. Vessölandet Porvoo 5215. Kirjalaön Pargas 4916. Oxkungar-Tengmo-Kvimo Maxmo, Oravais 4617. Lillandet Nagu 3818. Stortervolandet Pargas 3719. Larsmo Larsmo 3720. Kaurissalo Kustavi 36

No Name Municipality Area (km2)1. Soisalo Heinävesi, Kuopio, 1,638 Leppävirta, Varkaus2. Kerimäensaari Enonkoski, Kerimäki, Savonlinna 1,0693. Hurissalo Mikkeli, Puumala 1744. Partalansaari Puumala, Sulkava 1705. Viljakansaari Puumala 1156. Manamansalo Vaala 767. Äitsaari Ruokolahti 748. Moinniemensaari Savonlinna 539. Oravisalo Rääkkylä 4910. Kirkkosaari Taipalsaari 4711. Väisälänsaari Hirvensalmi, Mikkeli 3512. Virmaila Padasjoki 3513. Kuivainen Savitaipale 3314. Pyylinsaari Heinävesi 2815. Varpasalo Rääkkylä 2716. Paalasmaa Juuka 2717. Salosaari Ruokolahti 2618. Judinsalo Luhanka 2519. Lintusalo Puumala 2520. Kyläniemi Taipalsaari 23

Finland’s largest islands in freshwater areas

Many islands close to the shore are connected to the mainland with an embank-ment road or bridge. The island of Alanne in Lake Kiantajärvi, Suomussalmi.

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Rivers and coastlineThe largest rivers by discharge are Vuoksi, Kemijoki, Tornionjoki, Kymijoki, Kokemäenjoki, Oulujoki, Pielisjoki, Paatsjoki, Iijoki, Muo-nionjoki, Ounasjoki, Tenojoki, Kiehimäjoki, Lieksanjoki, Kajaaninjoki, Kitinen, Koitajoki, Juutuanjoki and Kyrönjoki.

The regions with the highest proportion of freshwater areas of their total area are Etelä-Savo, South Karelia, Päijät-Häme, North Karelia, Pohjois-Savo, Central Finland and Pirkanmaa.

The regions with the longest coastlines are Lapland, Etelä-Savo, North Ostrobothnia, Pohjois-Savo, North Karelia, Kainuu, Varsinais-Suomi and Central Finland.

Division of coastline km % Total seashore 46,198 15– mainland coast 6,299– islands 39,675– lakes on islands 96– islands in lakes on islands 128

Total lakes 214,896 68– mainland coast 171,506– islands 39,443– lakes on islands 2,242– islands in lakes on islands 1,705

Total rivers 53,510 17– mainland coast 51,142– islands 2,368

Total coastline 314,604 100In all 85% of the total length of Finnish coastline is located in freshwater areas and only 15% on the seashore. Nevertheless, only nine other countries have a longer sea coastline than Finland. This is due to Finland’s richness in islands: 86% of our sea coastline consists of island coastline.

lake or river can be found near most of the Finnish villages and built-up areas. Around one hundred munici-

palities are located by the sea. Spending time at a recreational home, boating, ship cruises, recreational fi shing, birdwatching and other nature pursuits, diving, cross-country skiing on frozen lake or sea ice, tour skating and traditional skating, kick-sledging and snowmobiling are activities that have made very many Finns familiar with the island areas.

Almost every Finn visits an island every year. The visitors may not even notice or come to think of the fact that they are on an island. For example those visiting Savonlinna, Kotka or Pargas may not realise that the main parts of these towns are on islands.

Many of Finland’s most popular tourist attractions can be found on islands. Every year, 1.6 million tourists visit Åland, 700,000

Millions of passengers feast their eyes on the islands of Uusimaa, Varsinais-Suomi and Åland while travelling on board the huge ferries be-tween Finland and Sweden, which usually call in at Åland. The island province of Åland receives 1.6 million tourists every year.

Visitors’ marinas total 400 in our sea areas and more than 700 in freshwater ar-eas. The respective numbers of fi shing ports are 24 and 15 and cargo ports serving freight traffi c 23 and 5. Ex-cluding the winter months, the Saimaa Canal connects the waterways of eastern Finland to the sea.

Islands and waters are extremely important to Finns

Suomenlinna, 500,000 Korkeasaari, 200,000 the ”Moomin Islands” of Naantali, 60,000 Manamansalo in Lake Oulujärvi. Built on the 15th century on a tiny islet off Savonlinna, Olavinlinna Castle draws in two hundred thousand visitors a year – 60,000 during the annual Opera Festival. Despite its remote outer sea location, even the Bengtskär lighthouse island attracts 15,000 visitors.

Excluding the permanent island resi-dents, Finns with the deepest relationships with an island are those who have a holiday home in an island environment. In 2004, there were around 465,000 recreational residences in Finland, of which 85% were on the coast. On average, people spend 80 to 100 days at their holiday home, and the fi gures are increasing. In many island municipalities, the number of recreational residents exceeds that of the permanent

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residents: Kustavi tops the chart with its recreational population quadrupling the number of permanent inhabitants.

In 2004, almost three billion euros was spent on recreational homes in Finland. Holidaying at recreational homes has be-come one of the main development factors in rural Finland. Recreational residents help maintain shops and other services in small municipalities, but their diverse com-petence and contacts could be even more important assets to the municipalities. Therefore efforts are made to include rec-reational residents in municipal and village functions. Developing participatory mecha-nisms for them is an important challenge for the municipalities.

Converting recreational homes into second homes without changing one’s municipality of residence is rapidly on the increase. Recreational properties are more spacious and better equipped these days. Developments such as information technol-ogy have increased the amount of location-independent employment. There has also been an increase in the desire to convert recreational homes into permanent homes.

The environmental impacts of rec-reational residence have been studied in recent years. The level of environmental impact has been found to be reasonable. Traffi c to and from recreational residences amounts to 7% of all car traffi c in Finland.

Recreational residence accounts for less than one per cent of phosphorus and nitro-gen discharges into waters, and these load-ings are further decreased by new legisla-tion regarding the treatment of wastewater from households outside sewerage net-works. Coastal construction does, however, have an impact on local natural conditions, including the waters, coastal ecology and landscape. Recreational residences cur-rently take up one tenth of the total Finnish coastline, but the proportion is consider-ably higher in the most popular areas.

On the other hand, spending time at a holiday home provides great environmental

A rubber dinghy in the rapids of the Kuusaan koski in Central Finland. White-water adventures are offered by dozens of tourism businesses around the country.

education for many Finns, with positive effects on their attitudes towards environ-mental protection and a simple, natural lifestyle. From the viewpoint of sustainable social development, these recreational resi-dences constitute a key form of urban-rural interaction, promoting the maintenance of a living and diverse countryside.

Enjoying the fi rst summer on the islands.

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Traditional and new means oflivelihood side by side

Winter seine net fi shing of vendace (Coregonus albula) in Lake Kostonjärvi, Taivalkoski. In the past decades, technological developments have made winter fi shing less strenuous and considerably more effi cient, but the number of seine cooperatives has declined.

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ven today island life is still lively and diverse. Statistics show that on average the business structure

of islands clearly differs from the national situation.

The service industries do already em-ploy almost half of our island population, but even this is below the national average. The development of tourism and recrea-tional services is, however, a critical issue for the future of the islands. The develop-ment opportunities are good. Islands, lakes and rivers can be turned into tourist attrac-tion sites. Entrepreneur training, intensifi ed marketing efforts and networking all have a key role to play. It would be particularly im-portant to extend the tourism season – the islands have a lot to offer in every season of the year.

State functions have had a major impact on employment and wellbeing in the island areas. In 2002, the defence administration had over 500 employees in island municipal-ities, the Finnish Maritime Administration 140, Finnish Road Administration 66 and the Frontier Guard 130. The most signifi cant research sector employer is the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute.

In particular the defence administration jobs are on the decrease, which is highly taxing for certain island municipalities.

In 2002, agriculture and forestry ac-counted for some 17% of the industries in island and part-island municipalities, while the corresponding national rate was less than fi ve per cent. The islands enjoy the

Hot baths and cold plunges at SaimaanSydän, Rantasalmi. Plenty of high-quality accommodation, catering and programme services have sprung up on our islands and coasts. In fact, developing island and lake tourism into a European attraction factor is one of the objectives of the Finnish Government.

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State jobs and services are important for islanders. Today, Finland’s public roads have more than 40 ferry crossings. The ferries carry around ten million people and fi ve million vehicles every year. There are also 19 commuter ferries operated by the Finnish Maritime Admin-istration and 21 cable ferries on private roads, most of them in Lake Pihlajavesi.

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benefi t of a strong image associated with attributes such as ‘clean’ and ‘genuine’, which can be utilised in the marketing of lo-cal special products. The growth season is also longer in the southwestern archipelago than the rest of the country. On the other hand, it is diffi cult to create the relatively large units favoured by modern farming as the fi elds are small and fragmented. Therefore specialised farming is a prime asset of the islands. Farming has decreased on the smaller and outer islands, although new forms including sheep farming have emerged on a smaller scale on many sea islands.

There are around three thousand pro-fessional fi shermen and women in Finland; three quarters of them fi sh at sea. Their number has been decreasing and may even go down to one half of the current fi gure during the next decade. The catches of fi sh have, however, been increasing and

Search and rescue exercise by the Coast Guard in the Gulf of Finland. Other authorities and volunteer NGOs also contribute towards maritime safety.

Kassu Halonen Taidetalo, a centre for courses and concerts in popular music and the visual arts, was opened in a former school on the island of Manaman salo in Lake Oulujärvi in summer 2000.

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A boatyard in Pietarsaari. Boatbuilding is a major industry in Central Ostrobothnia.

The October Baltic Herring Fair is Helsinki’s oldest traditional event, bringing fi sherfolk and entrepreneurs from the islands to central Helsinki. It dates back to a Royal Edict by King Frederick I of Sweden in 1743: “Let the miserable town of Helsinki be enlivened by a new fair at Michaelmas.”

reached a record level in 2004: approxi-mately 170 million kilograms a year. This means that what remains of the industry is the most effi cient and most professional part of it, which has a major employment impact in the fi elds of trade, food process-ing and fi shing equipment production. – In fi sh farming problems are caused by cheap imported salmon and on the other hand by the discharge load caused by the fi sheries. There are still around 600 jobs in this sec-tor in Finland, most of them in island areas.

Recreational fi shing is an essential part of island culture. Finland has 1.2 million rec-reational fi shermen and women and even more if a looser defi nition is applied. Al-though the value of their annual catch only amounts to 50 million euros, the services related to fi shing increase the economic signifi cance of this pastime four to sixfold. Recreational fi shing is an essential part of Finnishness, promoted by our country’s richness in waters and the extensive fi shing rights.

There is little industrial employment in the deepest archipelago, but many munici-palities with good ports on the sea coast do host some of the country’s major industrial plants.

Lohimaa in Äyskoski, Tervo, is the biggest fi shing centre in Finland. In all, there are almost a hundred businesses specialised in fi shing tourism, and thousands offer fi shing as an ancillary service.

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ising tourism increases demand for genuine island culture. The culture of our islands and waters consists

of history, tradition, nature and the environ-ment. Culture is all of the things that island-ers do and appreciate. It entails buildings, food, clothes, language, thoughts, beliefs... It is – fortunately – impossible to precisely defi ne island culture.

It is no coincidence that the Savonlinna Opera Festival, perhaps the best-known Finnish cultural event, takes place on an island. Other island attractions include Moominworld and the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, which presents samples of Finland’s building heritage. The historic Suomenlinna fortress island is one of the country’s major tourist sites.

Our islands boast many buildings and structures that cannot be found elsewhere in Finland. These include lighthouses, pilot posts, historical navigation marks and also our underwater cultural heritage. Military history is strongly present on sea islands: old fortresses include Suomenlinna in Helsinki, Bomarsund in Åland, Gustafsvärn in Hanko and the fortresses of Kotka.

The fi rst impressions of new visitors to an island are created by the village com-munity spread around the harbour. The visitor’s eye can be caught by a lighthouse

standing on a rock, an old windmill or the harmonious beauty of red wooden houses. The lifestyle and bare living of the islands have tended to preserve old settlements more commonly than elsewhere. In fresh-water areas the villages are often located towards the island’s interior, so the visitor may not sense the human inhabitance and activity as strongly as by the seaside.

Even the smallest of island municipali-ties often have a museum of local history

Demand for genuine culture of the islands and waters on the increase

The popular and infl uen-tial 19th century authors, Johan Ludvig Runeberg and Zachris Topelius, inspired a special love for their country among Finns, particularly through the stunning waterways. Painters who delighted in watery themes included Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Eero Järnefelt. Many artists also retreated to life at the lake- or seaside, and our great composer Jean Sibelius drew inspiration from the Finnish water-scape.

Loggers’ games have remained popular, es-pecially in eastern and northern parts of the country. The tradition started in the River Lieksanjoki in the 1930s. Typical events include poling, rolling, the logger’s oath and riding down rapids on a log.

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Korppoo Jazz represents modern island culture that is largely a result of the expertise of rec-reational residents.

and culture presenting old objects and building heritage. The Maritime Museum of Finland is responsible for archiving our maritime cultural heritage. Currently locat-ed in Helsinki, the museum will be moving to Kotka. Museums specialising in the sea and seafaring can also be found in Mariehamn, Turku, Rauma and Kristinestad. The Museum of Finnish Recreational Fishing is located in Asikkala, and Kerimäki has a Lake Fishing Museum.

Both our sea and freshwater areas boast plenty of prehistoric remains: stone labyrinths, rock paintings, ancient settle-ments and harbours. Island culture features extensively in literature, fi ne arts, drama, music, songs and fi lms. The waters were strongly present in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, and the composer Jean Sibelius was inspired by our waters.

The cultural heritage of our freshwater areas and islands is represented by timber fl oating museums, loggers’ games, old ca-nals, fi shing ports and fi sh markets as well as marinas and old steamboats. By the sea-side the number of volunteers participating in the painstaking task of building and re-storing traditional sailing ships is a telltale sign of love for the old islander culture.

The living culture of our islands and waters is upheld by permanent and recrea-tional residents, boaters, professional and recreational fi shermen and women, tourists and many others. Despite the strong tradi-tion, it is also important to generate new culture that is, where appropriate, created on the basis of the old heritage. Indeed, this has been achieved in many of the fi ne cultural events organised on the Finnish islands in the summer.

Postal traffi c across the Quark – the threshold between Finland and Sweden – began in 1617 and continued for almost two centuries. Today this tradition is honoured with the annual rowing event for old-style boats. The starting point alternates annually between Replot, Finland, and Holmö, Sweden.

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ow will the Finnish island areas be faring in the year 2020? Here is how the Island Committee visions the

future:“Finland’s living islands will be regarded

as our common riches both at the national and European level. Knowledge-intensive businesses will have sought their way to the islands and coastal areas. The traditional in-dustries – fi sheries and agriculture – will be producing quality products for demanding consumers. Finland’s islands and waters will be our most signifi cant tourist and recrea-tion attractions.

Living on the islands will have become more common as highly educated people in particular will value a high-quality living environment. A great number of former rec-reational residents will have moved perma-nently to the island areas. In addition, those with a second home there will be spending long periods of time in their second home as

An estimated half a million Finns have jobs suited for teleworking. It is particularly benefi cial for island and rural municipalities to invest in improving the facilities for telework at summer homes.

The future of our islands

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There are half a million recreational residences, with two million regular users. New holiday homes are being built at the rate of 4,500 a year.

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The Island Act■ In force since 1981, the Island Development Act obliges the State and municipalities to work to-wards safeguarding the opportunities for pursuing a livelihood and the availability of transport and services on the island areas as well as to protect their environment. According to the Act, the con-cept of ‘island’ covers sea and freshwater islands without permanent road access as well as other islands and mainland regions with conditions oth-erwise comparable to those of islands.

The Government has defi ned Finland’s most island-rich municipalities as island municipali-ties and part-island municipalities. In early 2005, Finland had 13 island municipalities and 44 part-island municipalities.

Our island municipalities are Dragsfjärd, Enon-koski, Hailuoto, Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo, Kustavi, Malax, Nagu, Puumala, Rymättylä, Sulkava and Velkua.

The part-island municipalities comprise Asikkala, Askainen, Ekenäs, Halikko, Helsinki, Hirven salmi, Ingå, Joutsa, Juuka, Kesälahti, Kimito, Kivijärvi, Korpilahti, Korsholm, Kotka, Kuhmoinen, Kuopio, Larsmo, Lieksa, Liperi, Luhanka, Maxmo, Merimasku, Mikkeli, Närpes, Oravais, Pargas, Pernå, Piikkiö, Porvoo, Pyhtää, Ruokolahti, Ruotsinpyhtää, Rääkkylä, Savonlinna, Sipoo, Särkisalo, Taipalsaari, Taivassalo, Tervo, Uukuniemi, Uusikaupunki, Vaala and Västan-fjärd.

Their special status is taken into considera-tion as a factor increasing their need for support in issues including the regional policy and central government transfers to local government. – The Island Committee is a permanent statutory advisory committee that operates in connection with the Department for Development of Regions and Public Administration at the Ministry of the Interior. The Island Committee participates in the development of island areas jointly with the municipalities, re-gions, State authorities and other relevant parties.

a result of an increase in part-time telecom-muting and the large number of pensioners. Services for pensioners will constitute a major business. Foreigners will constitute an important part of the labour force and the social structure of these areas.

State and municipal functions will have been decentralised into the island areas in a manner whereby a large number of gov-ernment employees will be telecommuting from their second home or a high-quality telework centre provided by the municipal-ity. Largely delivered electronically, public services will be functioning well. Coastal planning will have ensured the preserva-tion of extensive stretches of undeveloped coastline for common recreational use, which will also support the growth of tour-ism. Everyone on the islands will be taking pride in the local biodiversity and dis-charge-free communities. The marine and freshwater environments will have been cleaned and living, diverse and internation-al culture will be fl ourishing in the different parts of the island area.”

The future of our island areas will natu-rally depend on many national and interna-tional trends and phenomena. Globalisation is underway, but at the same time there will be a greater focus on localisation. Econom-ic cycles are fl uctuating faster; the forces of technological change have a profound impact. Europeans are ageing, the interface between the public and private sector is shifting.

Island municipalities and part-island municipalities.

Pupils of a nature school on Boskär, Nagu. These schools teach children about the ecology, culture and history of the Archipelago Sea. They also organise activities including voluntary work camps for adults.

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hen Finland arose from the sea after the last Ice Age, the fi rst piece of land was an island. No-

one knows precisely where that embryo of Finland was located. It might have been the top of Tiirismaa, the highest point of today’s southern Finland (222 m). Around 12,000 years have since elapsed.

In addition to water, the fi rst island may have been fringed with the edge of the continental glacier receding northwest. A

Finland – born of an islandmillennium after the fi rst glimpse, Finland already consisted of hundreds of islands. The Finnish mainland also gradually began to emerge around the area that today is Finland’s eastern border. Finland was no longer composed only of islands.

Approximately 10,200 years ago, the level of the Baltic glacial lake suddenly dropped by almost thirty metres and the Yoldia Sea was created. Many of the islands grew larger: the largest one in Finland was

WRistisaari, Pyhtää. Ice and waves prevent veg-etation from spreading onto the expanse of smooth rock.

Metres abovethe surface of the Ancylus Lake

Kemi

Rovaniemi

Oulu

Kajaani

Kokkola

Vaasa

Savonlinna

Jyväskylä

PoriTampere

Turku

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LahtiHämeenlinna

Mikkeli

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Seinäjoki KuopioJoensuu

1200 m

700 m

500 m400 m300 m200 m150 m100 m

50 m–50 m

–100 m–150 m–200 m–250 m

0 km 100 km

The Finnish islands around 9,000 years ago. The Baltic Sea was the freshwater Ancylus Lake, with its runoff outlet on the western side of today’s Lake Vänern in Sweden. The southern Finnish coastline was 60 me-tres above the current level, in the Bay of Bothnia even at over 200 metres.

Source: Matti Tikkanen, University of Helsinki© National Land Survey of Finland 192/Mar/98

created in what is now southern Häme. A few decades later, glimpses of Åland could be seen amidst the waves. About 9,000 years ago the last remnants of the conti-nental glacier melted away in the area that is now Finland. The Baltic was a lake again, with its largest island stretching over an area four times larger than Zealand, the largest island of today’s Baltic Sea.

Around 7,500 years ago the Baltic be-came a sea again. Compared with its cur-rent location, the coast was further inland, by 50 to 100 km at the Bay of Bothnia, 30 to 60 km at the Sea of Bothnia and 20 to 40 km at the Gulf of Finland. There were not very many islands at that time, but tens of thousands of them were waiting to rise from the depths. With the continuing land uplift, they began to emerge over a more extensive area. Although the movement of the coastline merged former islands with the mainland, the largest of Finnish archipelagos – the Archipelago Sea – was gradually created in the southwest. Today the area has almost 40,000 islands, which is more than in Polynesia in the South Pacifi c. These days the number of Finnish sea is-lands over 100 m2 in area totals 80,897, with their coastline stretching over 39,803 km.

Some of our lake islands are older than their home waters: they were already is-lands before the lake separated from the sea. As millennia have passed, land uplift has tilted the lake basins, resulting in the appearance and disappearance of islands. The creation of new discharge channels has in one go dramatically altered the size and island map of many major lakes, including Saimaa and Päijänne. Small islands have been destroyed by ice and waves, and when lakes have become overgrown, their islands have naturally also disappeared. People have drained many lakes or lowered their water levels, causing islands to emerge or merge with the mainland.

Today the number of our freshwater islands totals 98,050. Almost a thousand of them are islands on islands: they are locat-ed in lakes that themselves are located on islands. Finland has a couple of thousand of these lakes-on-islands. The total island shoreline in our freshwater areas stretches over 43,496 km, of which islands in rivers

account for 2,368 km. Thus our freshwater areas just beat the sea areas in both the number of islands and the length of coast-line. The same applies to the total area of islands: the freshwater islands cover about 7,200 km2 and sea islands 5,800 km2.

In 1873, the author Zachris Topelius wrote that “Every century the Baltic Sea donates to its daughter Finland enough land for a new principality.” According to the current estimate, around 300 hectares of new land emerges on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia every year.

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he Finnish sea islands are a veri-table paradise for the researcher. They are young and undergoing

constant growth and change. Land uplift is still bringing up new islands from the sea. An islet born on the open sea often remains almost totally without vegetation for some three centuries until it has risen high enough to provide a habitat for a few grasses, rushes and other herbaceous plants rooted on rock crevices.

With the island growing in height, the seaweeds washed in by the waves are de-posited into crevices and depressions. Increasing in density, the root layer binds the composting matter underneath. This creates a miniature meadow with blooming plants including sea mayweed (Tripleurospermum maritimum), chives (Allium schoenoprasum) or biting stonecrop (Sedum

Island nature

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Towards diversityThe larger an island grows, the larger its number of species and their genetic diver-sity. Often only around ten species of vas-cular plants can be found on small islands, on medium-sized ones perhaps fi fty and on reasonably large ones even more than one hundred. Not enough time has passed for any endemic species to evolve on the is-lands in Finland’s sea areas, although such species are typical of many islands of the world. The migration of our islands from the outer islets to the bosom of our inner archipelago and their fi nal merger with the mainland has been too fast for the evolu-tion of new species. Certain microevolution has, however, taken place: our sea islands have forty-odd species of vascular plants with features clearly different from those of their inland ancestor species. The homes of some of these subspecies are also apparent from their Finnish and scientifi c names: the common bird’s foot trefoil native to Åland (Lotus corniculatus var. alandicus), the fi eld mugwort that grows by the Bay of Bothnia (Artemisia campestris bottnica) and the hair-grass found by the Sea of Bothnia (Deschampsia bottnica).

The impact of land uplift is particularly pronounced on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. The landscapes undergo dramatic transformations in as little as one century in areas such as the Quark, the threshold between the Sea of Bothnia and the Bay of Bothnia. The geological structure of the

acre). Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) can often be found in damp depressions. The depressions can also become swampy and plants such as crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris) and even cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) can rise from the mossy ground. The fi rst immigrant trees are the prostrate junipers (Juniperus), followed by rowans (Sorbus aucuparia) and the twisted and knotted pines (Pinus). The spruce (Picea) carpets vast areas in the depressions.

Insects are the fi rst representatives of the animal kingdom to arrive, although not by any means voluntarily but blown in by the winds. With more and more areas avail-able for shelter, feeding and reproduction, the insect diversity increases. The larger winged creatures – birds – also appear relatively early. Gulls (Larus), waterfowl (Anseriformes) and wading birds effi ciently fertilise the islets. The majority of island birdlife is only present during the summers. An even larger group are the migrating birds passing though, which on the best days can be seen in fl ocks of tens of thousands.

Amongst the fi rst mammal invaders are the voles (Microtinae) that can at times practically decimate a young island’s veg-etation. An island is in any case a harsh environment for many species. Reproduc-tion is diffi cult; habitats are destroyed by storms and ice. It takes tough persistence – and good luck – to survive.

The oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) is a wader with a loud piping call. Today, around 4,000 couples nest in Finland, and oystercatchers can be spotted in urban parks and even nesting on roofs.

Birdwatching on Hailuoto. The most numerous nesting waterfowl on the island is the tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), but teals (Anas crecca) and Eurasian wigeons (Anas penelope) are also common. Almost 20 species of waders also nest on the island, with the most common ones being ruffs (Philomachus pugnax), common redshanks (Tringa totanus) and common snipes (Gallinago gallinago).

Sea mayweed (Tripleurospermum maritimum) and chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are common on the outer islets of the Archipelago Sea.

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A long history of human activity has had its impact, especially on the state of the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea, but pro-tection measures have suc-ceeded in recovering the endangered white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) population: more than 200 young eagles hatch every year again. Even the crayfi sh (Astacus astacus) is doing well, despite the state of the sea bottom being poor in places.

islands is also changing towards north: rock is being replaced by glacial till, or moraine. Plants growing near the waterline on rocky shores include sea aster (Aster tripolium), salt-marsh rush (Juncus gerardii) and creep-ing bent (Agrostis stolonifera) and those fur-ther up purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and the seashore subspecies of common valerian (Valeriana sambucifolia s. salina). Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is a type plant on many coastal stretches. Decidu-ous woods dominated by birch (Betula) or aspen (Populus tremula) are common. The Quark’s birdlife is characterised by black guillemots (Cepphus grylle), razorbills (Alca torda), arctic terns (Sterna paradisea) and mew gulls (Larus canus). Even the state-ly white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is no longer a rare sight in the area.

In about two thousand years, the land uplift at the Quark will have created a land connection between Finland and Sweden. In three million thousand years there will also be a land connection from mainland Finland to Åland across the Skiftet strait.

The largest island in the Bay of Bothnia and the third largest in Finland’s sea areas is Hailuoto. Despite its highest point now rising over 30 metres above sea level, the island was not born until a little under two

thousand years ago. The land uplift has not been quite this extreme: winds have piled sand up onto the top of the island. When the island was a hundred years old, it cov-ered only around one square kilometre in area, by its fi rst millennium it was approxi-mately 50 km2 and today, with the island approaching its second millennium, its area totals 195 km2. The Hailuoto landscape is characterised by vast lichen-rich pine heaths. Tar pines buried in sand and bottle logs sticking out from sand drifts are inter-esting local sights.

The islands in our sea areas are usually divided into three zones. The outer archi-pelago is dominated by water, and a basic characteristic of the islands is their lack of trees. The middle archipelago is a balanc-ing act between land and water, with more barren open-water islands between forested islands. The inner archipelago is dominated by land, with areas of water meandering around it as narrow sounds, straits and bays. The most barren areas are woodland, former sea bays most often farmed clay soil.

In reality the mosaic of our island areas is much more diverse than this simplifi ca-tion. Every island is different – the local impacts of the sea, light, waves and wind

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specify the forms of life on each island. Nature and landscape are shaped by lime-stone deposits, fertilisation by birds, the amount of sand and gravel. This creates a ten-thousand piece jigsaw puzzle where every single piece is embedded in its place although the human eye fails to distinguish it.

Dialogue between humans and natureOur freshwater islands have a much more stable past than their maritime cousins. Land uplift, changes in the water balance and the human craze for draining lakes have, however, altered islands in our lakes and their ecology. Floods have eroded the top ends of river islands and piled up new soil at the downstream end. The creation of new river branches has separated sections of mainland into islands.

The fl ora and fauna of freshwater is-lands do not usually differ greatly from those on the surrounding mainland. There are very few isolated open-water islands in our freshwater areas: the distance to a neighbouring island or headland pointing out from the mainland is hardly ever more than one kilometre.

Nature is also a culturally bound con-cept. Without humans the island ecology would be a lot poorer than it is today. Of

course human activity has reduced the hab-itats of some species, but at the same time entirely new biotopes have been created. These include the wooded meadows cre-ated by traditional animal husbandry. Since grassland areas were limited on the islands, people used to cut leaf fodder from trees for their cattle for the winter. The fl ora and fauna of these wooded meadows are excep-tionally diverse. The spring sees the bloom of anemones (Anemone), the summer brings up the rare orchids (Orchis) and many members of the bellfl ower family (Campanulaceae). A multitude of mosses, lichens, shelf fungi and insects live on gnarled and decayed trees.

For the islanders nature is an environ-ment defi ned – in addition to the diversity of species – by bonds and experiences spe-cifi c to a place, everyday chores and social relationships. Virgin nature may be re-garded as ugly and unkempt; nature is part of one’s own everyday territory that can and should be worked. Attempts have been made to take this extended concept of na-ture into consideration in the protection of the Archipelago Sea Biosphere Reserve – in addition to nature, the protection extends to the continuous interaction between peo-ple and their environment.

Locals preserving a meadow on Mälhamn, Nagu. Many of the tradi-tional island landscapes are threatened by for-estation as they are no longer grazed by cattle. Therefore regular cutting and removal of cuttings is necessary. Trees also need to be thinned out.

23

Seven island parks■ Finland does not have a single national park to-tally lacking water areas or even islands. But seven of our national parks have been established to conserve island nature in particular. Four of them are located at sea and three in our lake districts. The island parks cover around 2,500 islands and islets and vast areas of waters.

■ The oldest of the national parks is Linnansaari, located at Haukivesi in Lake Saimaa, and established in 1956. It covers an area that is some 40 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. There are over 130 islands that cover more than one hectare in area as well as hundreds of smaller islands, but the area is still dominated by vast open waters. The park is home to more than fi fty extremely endangered Saimaa ringed seals (Phoca hispida saimensis), and its osprey (Pandion haliaetus) population is one of the densest in Finland. You can learn about slash and burn farming and the lifestyle of past generations at the old Louhimaa farm, a small holding that has been restored to serve as a visitor attraction. Tradi-tional methods have been reintroduced to manage its immediate surroundings.

■ The other one of the national parks in Lake Saimaa is called Kolovesi. It was established in 1990. Although the park only has forty islands, these in-clude two of the largest islands in our national parks: Vaajasalo (1210 ha) and Mäntysalo (740 ha). The park is characterised by long and narrow fjord-like inlets penetrating deep into the interiors of the main is-lands. The most majestic of the granite rockfaces rise almost vertically to heights up to forty metres and take as deep a plunge underwater. Commonly found species of fi sh include vendace (Coregonus albula), smelt (Osmerus eperlanus), perch (Perca fl uviatilis), burbot (Lota lota), whitefi sh (Coregonus lavaretus) and ide (Leuciscus idus). Rarer species in-clude brown trout (Salmo trutta m. lacustris), arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and fourhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis), a relict of the last Ice Age with spikes and bony protuberances.

Information about the Linnansaari and Kolovesi National Parks is available from sources including the Linnansaari Visitor Centre Oskari in Rantasalmi, the Oravi Nature Cabin in the village of Oravi, the Saimaa Nature Centre Nestori in Savonlinna as well as the Kolovesi Nature Cabin.

■ Established in 1993, the Päijänne National Park comprises around fi fty undeveloped islands and islets as well as parts of the inhabited islands. The heart of the park is Kelvene, an esker island that is eight kilometres long and 50 to 800 metres wide. Its special features include long sandy beaches and sheltered lagoons. The rocky banks and the terraces on the sides of the esker bear witness to ancient water levels.

Information about the Päijänne National Park is available from sources including the Kelvene Nature Cabin, the park’s information point at Padasjoki harbour.

The spring sun has already melted the snow on the rocks of Linnansaari, but the con-ditions are still splendid for skiing on the frozen lake. In the winter, the national park also boasts a hugely long tour skat-ing and kick-sledging track that crosses the park without disturbing the wildlife.

■ The oldest of Finland’s maritime national parks is the Eastern Gulf of Finland National Park, which was established in 1982. The park’s bedrock, how-ever, is the youngest among our island parks: the reddish rapakivi granite is “only” 1.6 billion years old. The twenty forested islands and the couple of hundred islets total 800 hectares in area. The larg-est island is Ulko-Tammio. Eastern Gulf of Finland is an important breeding area for seals, and the area is also rich in sea birds. In addition to its natural values, the park also has many military history monuments, including a fortress, torpedo boat station and a cave used for military purposes during WWII. A national park is also being planned on the Russian side of the national border.

Information about the Eastern Gulf of Finland National Park is available from sources including the Haapasaari Nature Cabin.

■ Established in 1989, the Ekenäs Archipelago Na-tional Park covers a sea area totalling around 52,000 hectares, with almost fi ve hundred islands and islets. The park also includes the Pojoviken waters – often referred to as the only fjord in Finland. The park boasts a perfect succession of archipelago zones: outer, middle and inner, which also results in a pro-found change in the fl ora and fauna when moving from the open seas to Pojoviken where water is prac-tically non-saline. Several glo lakes that have sepa-rated from the sea and fl adas that are still undergo-ing separation provide valuable nesting and resting areas for birds. The largest island, Älgö (700ha), is also the largest in area in all of our maritime parks.

Information about the Ekenäs Archipelago Na-tional Park is available from sources including the Ekenäs Visitor Centre and the Rödjan Nature Cabin.

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■ The Archipelago Sea National Park is located in the southwestern outer archipelago in the munici-palities of Dragsfjärd, Nagu, Korpo and Houtskär. The park has about one thousand islands and islets. The landscape above the sea level is characterised by outer islands with short trees, lush inner islands, glaciated rock as well as numerous islands of sand and pebbles (Jurmo, Sandskär, Sandö) belonging to the third Salpausselkä lateral moraine. The underwa-ter landscape is rather spectacular with clear lines of depressions and ruptures as well as the Gullkrona sunken valley.

The park’s nature has the richest biodiversity in the entire country. Approximately one tenth of the park’s land area is managed in order to preserve the old pasturage and wooded meadows. The park and its neighbouring areas form the Archipelago Sea Bio-sphere Reserve that belongs to the UNESCO network and has a permanent population of 1,200 people. The objective in this area is to preserve endangered natu-ral and cultural values and promote the coexistence of humans and nature.

Information about the Archipelago Sea Natural Park is available from sources including the Blå-musslan Visitor Centre in Kasnäs, Dragsfjärd, and the Nature Cabins on Berghamn in Nagu and Jurmo in Korpo.

■ Located off the coasts of Kemi and Tornio, the Perämeri National Park is 157 km2 in area, of which 2.5 km2 is land. The park’s islands and islets total around forty. Most of them can be found in groups separated from each other by vast open seas. They provide the opportunity to observe the constantly changing sea environment created by land uplift as well as the fi shermen’s bases and landscapes created

by the traditional local source of livelihood, fi shing. The Haparanda National Park can be found on the Swedish side of the border. Information about the Perämeri National Park is available from sources in-cluding the National Park’s Nature Cabin in Kemi.

■ Many other Finnish national parks also have sig-nifi cant islands and island landscapes. These include Koli, Tiilikka and Isojärvi. – There are also many larg-ish conservation areas outside our network of na-tional parks that are connected to our island nature. These areas are part of the national coastal, birdlife or esker protection programmes.

The Blåmusslan Visitor Centre in Dragsfjärd. The visitor centres run by the state forest enterprise Metsähallitus and the Finnish Forest Research Institute host a million visitors every year. All of our national parks have areas of water.

The wreck of the Park Victory is visited by 500 to 700 divers every year. The Utö waters are some of the best in Finland for visibility. The badly rusted wreck rests at depths of 5 to 25 metres. There are 20,000 active sport divers in Finland.

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26

he fi rst human who set foot on the soil of what is now Finland found themselves on an island. We know

this for certain, and we also know that the spot where they came ashore is now far inland. The arrival would have had reason to remark: “That’s one giant leap for Finland and not a step that small for me, either.” But they might well have come ashore quiet and cautious. Where they came from is something we do not know for sure. It is down to the linguists to argue in the ancient

The best-researched Stone-Age dwelling in northern Finland is Kierikki, an island on the mouth of the River Iijoki 5,000 years ago. The island’s village culture fl ourished for almost two millennia. At fi rst, the dwellings were partly underground and set apart from each other. The population of the village is believed to have been up to 150 at its peak.

The islandersform of which language it was that they ut-tered their fi rst words on these shores.

What happened to this daredevil? It is likely that they found the conditions too harsh and made a hasty return home. Per-haps they only intended to be the fi rst ever summer resident on our islands: catch a few seals and wonder at the bright nights of the northern summer. Other daredevils did, however, follow and the fi rst year-round dwellings were probably built some 8,000 years ago. The fi rst person born and bred in Finland saw light in some humble abode.

The earliest evidence of stone-age dwellings have been discovered some 30 metres above the current sea level. Life was not easy in an environment provid-ing little shelter and with trees still quite short. Approximately six thousand years ago several permanent settlements had, however, already been established and dur-ing the summers traffi c was active across the narrowing Gulf of Finland. In addition to objects, many rock paintings still remain from the era of this Comb-Ceramic culture, depicting objects and activities including boats and seal hunting, which was the main source of livelihood. Indeed, it is presumed that effi cient hunting was at least partly responsible for the extinction of the harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) within the Baltic region.

TA labyrinth on Borstö, Nagu. At least 23 of these spiralling stone arrange-ments can be found by the Archipelago Sea. The oldest ones date back to the Bronze Age; they were probably related to fertil-ity myths. The youngest labyrinths are believed to be connected with the Viking raids and church rituals from Finland’s Catholic era (1300–1500).

Clay pottery was mas-tered in Finland at least six thousand years ago. Most of the vessels were semi-egg-shaped, but pots that tapered towards the mouth were also made.

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Budding agricultureA good 4,000 years ago the southern and southwestern coasts of Finland received the fi rst relatively large wave of migration. Battle-Axe people who used pointed shaft-hole battle axes arrived across the sea from Estonia. The period also saw the start of a revolution in the sources of livelihood: agri-culture and animal husbandry began to exist side by side with the hunting culture. The northern Finnic and the southern Estonian peoples were interacting busily, which is evidenced today by the similarities be-tween the Finnish and Estonian language.

Evidence of animal husbandry dating back four millennia has been found on the southwestern island of Nagu. The climate had already become considerably cooler from the Atlantic climatic optimum experi-enced a good 5,000 years ago. Despite the growing signifi cance of agriculture, the sea remained an importance source of food. More saline than today, the sea areas were

rich in cod (Gadus morhua) and other fi sh. Ringed seals (Phoca hispida), grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) were hunted, and so were many waterfowl that also provided down.

During the Bronze Age (ca 1000 BC), the Baltic had already become a major connec-tor between those living on its islands and shores. Seafaring and trading were impor-tant means of livelihood. During the Iron Age (500 BC–AD 1000) settled areas spread further out as the islands grew in area due to land uplift. Sheep were grazing even on many of the smallest islands.

The Vikings set up bases along their important eastern route in the sheltered coves of the Finnish archipelago. One of these used to be on the island of Hitis-Rosala where a Viking Centre is now attracting visitors.

Swedish settlement was gaining ground in the Archipelago Sea area in the 12th cen-tury. By mid-13th century it already reached

Berghamn, Nagu, boasts one of the fi nest tradi-tional landscapes on our islands with its hard-wood woodlands, forest pastureland, woodland grazing areas and species-rich grazing fi elds and meadows.

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Suomenlinna is one of Finland’s primary tour-ist attractions, receiving 700,000 visitors a year. The fortress island is also the vibrant home of almost a thousand residents, with services including a school, li-brary and health centre.

the area that is now Helsinki. The second wave of migration from Sweden in late 13th century was connected with the aspirations of expansion towards the east of the great power. This is when the coast and islands of Itä-Uusimaa were settled fi rmly and exten-sively, with the population focusing on ani-mal husbandry, fi shing and arable farming.

Wars and epidemicsThe Black Death put an end to the fl ow of settlers from Sweden in mid-14th century. The two decades that followed did, howev-er, see an increase in the island population, only to be followed by a sudden decrease in late 16th century. The reason behind this may have been a drop in the catches of fi sh, but also wars and epidemics which – par-ticularly in early 18th century – cast a dark shadow over life on the islands.

The islands of the Gulf of Bothnia emerged from the sea later than our more southern islands, so there is no point in looking for signs of early settlement on them. The fi rst permanent settlers may have arrived on the current islands of the Quark perhaps a thousand years ago and on Hailuoto in the 12th century. In the 15th century there was a considerable increase in the island’s population near sheltered harbours and arable land. Fishing and seal hunting still remained more important

means of livelihood on the islands of the Gulf of Bothnia than on the southern

Seal hunters with their catch. Seals were hunted for their meat, fat and skin. The damage caused by the seals to the fi sh population and fi shing equipment also created pressure towards hunting them.

islands. Winter hunting trips could take up to two months; temporary stone dwellings have been discovered on many islands. The fi rst wooden fi shing huts were built in the 17th century.

Our freshwater islands have been in-habited for thousands of years: hundreds of Stone Age dwellings have been found in areas including Lake Saimaa. Elk (Alces alces) and wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from the forests, beavers (Castor fi ber) from the ponds and fi sh from the lakes were all important catches. In Lake Saimaa the ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) was a treasured catch. Slash and burn farming probably started around the year 500. Bar-ley (Hordeum vulgare) was the fi rst crop to be farmed; the earliest signs of rye (Secale cereale) only date back to the 13th century.

Many of our sea islands have suffered the effects of wars over the centuries. Re-

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minders of these include the fortresses that can be found on the coast and the islands, which have become popular tourist at-tractions. Our freshwater islands have not always enjoyed peace, either. For example, during the Russo-Swedish War in 1742, the Cossacks lead by General Villim Fermor crossed the ice to attack the Pihlajavesi islands and killed 43 locals.

The rise and fall of the islands – and a new rise againLife in almost all of Finland’s island areas grew stronger and more settled during the 19th century. In mid-century, the popula-tion of the southwestern Archipelago Sea region began to spread onto the outer islands. Almost three hundred islands be-came populated over a few decades. Similar development could also be seen elsewhere. New fi shing methods such as hook and drift nets no longer required a joint effort by the villagers, which enabled more scattered settlement.

At the same time, seafaring was under-going a period of strong development. The golden age of peasant seafaring in the 19th

century made many of our island areas richer, Åland in the southwest and Tammio in the southeast to name a couple. Ships sailing the Baltic and the Atlantic were built and equipped on the islands. Sailing ships were, however, gradually supplanted by steamers. Finland’s fi rst light beacon was built on the island of Utö in 1753, the sec-ond in Porkkala in 1800.

The economic boom and population growth continued on the islands until the fi rst decades of the 20th century. The islands were bustling with life: many had churches with pastors, schools with teach-ers, lots of shops and associations. Imports and exports had boosted seafaring and connections with both mainland Finland and the neighbouring countries. Trade with Estonia was fl ourishing, fi sh was exported and agricultural products were imported. Fish and for example stone to be used on demanding construction sites were trans-ported from the islands to St Petersburg. Stockholm was an important export desti-nation for the southern and southwestern coast.

There was a wide range of activities on the islands. Good harbours promoted the

Our water areas also at-tract crowds in the winter. Snow and ice are Finland’s strengths. Organised in the Southern Ostrobothnian village of Tuuri, Miljoona Pilkki has been the world’s biggest ice-fi shing event with 10,000 participants.

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founding of sawmills and shipyards on the islands. The Reposaari island in Pori was a booming industrial island with shipyards and Lamposaari island in Lappeenranta fl ourished because of its sawmill. The Vaajasalo island in Kuopio had a large hospital, and the island of Själö in Nagu has its own grim history as a quarantined is-land hosting fi rst a leper hospital and later a mental asylum.

But the world was changing. The indus-trialising mainland Finland began to attract the islanders. This change applied to all of Finland’s rural areas. Land transport began to displace water transport and, despite the developing road connections, the islands became peripheral areas. Not as many peo-

ple could fi nd subsistence on the islands. The population began to fall. First people migrated to America, then to mainland Finland or Sweden.

The migration accelerated after the Second World War. During the war, almost 100,000 people still lived on sea or fresh-water islands without a road or ferry con-nection to the mainland. In 1970 the cor-responding fi gure was 30,000 and today it is only 11,000, with more than 2,000 of these in Åland outside the main islands. The con-struction of bridges accounts for a great proportion of this statistical difference: the islands have not disappeared; they merely continue their existence as islands with permanent road connections.

Haapasaari is an outer island located 20 km south of the town of Kotka. Connected to the mainland by a boat service from Kotka, the island has a church, shop, meeting point, museum, passport control and electricity. Year-round residence is on the in-crease.

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Holiday homes are part of many Finns’ lives: 1.9 million Finns visit them regularly. Part-time residence is also getting more common round the year, and recreational residents have become a cornerstone of rural development.

There is also another perspective to the population development: more people live on the islands today than ever before. This is because the increase in the number of part-time island residents has exceeded the drop in the number of permanent residents. Developing telecommunications connec-tions and telecommuting enable the growth of island residence. Our islands are enjoy-ing a new rise again.

For example the Swedish-speaking Åboland region has about 10,000 recrea-tional residences owned by people from outside the region. These residences are used regularly by some 40,000 people, while the local permanent population is approxi-mately 22,000.

Similar development can be seen on islands in our freshwater areas. In 1950, the island of Paalasmaa in Juuka used to have a population of 410; today’s fi gure is under 140. The population of Viljakansaari in Puumala has dropped to a quarter of what it used to be in fi fty years. The same applies to the inhabited islands of Lake Pihlajavesi. Many smallish islands have lost even their last year-round resident.

Residents of secondary homes have, however, generally replaced the drop in permanent population on these islands, at least in their number. Thousands of new islands have also been inhabited by part-time islanders.

The water in Lake Hyryn-järvi, Hyrynsalmi, can be up to 20ºC in the middle of the summer. The plenti-ful lakes and waterways are tourism assets for the Kainuu municipalities.

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he inbound fl ight of many visitors arriv-he inbound fl ight of many visitors arriv-ing in Helsinki goes over the Archipelago ing in Helsinki goes over the Archipelago Sea. First they will spot a few islets hardly Sea. First they will spot a few islets hardly

distinguishable from the shimmering sea. Then their distinguishable from the shimmering sea. Then their number increases, and soon one can see thousands at number increases, and soon one can see thousands at a glance. This will amaze even the most seasoned of a glance. This will amaze even the most seasoned of travellers as the southwestern archipelago of Finland travellers as the southwestern archipelago of Finland is one of the rarest landscapes in the world. The birth is one of the rarest landscapes in the world. The birth of an archipelago is most commonly connected with of an archipelago is most commonly connected with the birth of a mountain range. This was the case in the birth of a mountain range. This was the case in Greece, Indonesia and the Caribbean, but our south-Greece, Indonesia and the Caribbean, but our south-western archipelago is a zone between water and land western archipelago is a zone between water and land that slopes gently from the mainland towards the sea. that slopes gently from the mainland towards the sea. The minor unevennesses of this zone create a laby-The minor unevennesses of this zone create a laby-rinth consisting of countless parts differing from each rinth consisting of countless parts differing from each other in shape and size. other in shape and size.

From Helsinki our traveller takes an onward fl ight From Helsinki our traveller takes an onward fl ight to Savonlinna. Having read that there are 187,888 to Savonlinna. Having read that there are 187,888 lakes in Finland, they are disappointed at fi rst: only lakes in Finland, they are disappointed at fi rst: only the odd lake can be seen in the landscape patterned the odd lake can be seen in the landscape patterned with fi elds and forests. After a fi fteen-minute-fl ight, with fi elds and forests. After a fi fteen-minute-fl ight, however, there are more and more lakes and in half however, there are more and more lakes and in half an hour the traveller is perplexed again. Underneath an hour the traveller is perplexed again. Underneath the plane, Lake Pihlajavesi spreads out with its more the plane, Lake Pihlajavesi spreads out with its more than three thousand islands. Unlike the Archipelago than three thousand islands. Unlike the Archipelago

Sea, here you can detect a sort of orderliness: it is as Sea, here you can detect a sort of orderliness: it is as if most of the islands are in lines ranging from north-if most of the islands are in lines ranging from north-west to southeast. Of course the lines are somewhat west to southeast. Of course the lines are somewhat haphazard, resembling the queues children form inex-haphazard, resembling the queues children form inex-pertly on their fi rst days of school. pertly on their fi rst days of school.

But the Finnish islands used to be important for But the Finnish islands used to be important for foreigners long before the fi rst traveller ever stepped foreigners long before the fi rst traveller ever stepped into an aircraft. One of the most famous of them into an aircraft. One of the most famous of them was Tsar Alexander III of Russia who took a total was Tsar Alexander III of Russia who took a total of twenty-one holidays on the islands of the Gulf of of twenty-one holidays on the islands of the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea. His favourite island Finland and the Archipelago Sea. His favourite island was Högsåra in Dragsfjärd where he spent time al-was Högsåra in Dragsfjärd where he spent time al-most every summer between 1885 and 1894. He made most every summer between 1885 and 1894. He made friends with the locals, chopped up fi rewood and pre-friends with the locals, chopped up fi rewood and pre-pared salmon soup with his wife, Maria Feodorovna. pared salmon soup with his wife, Maria Feodorovna. It has been calculated that the tsar spent 213 holiday It has been calculated that the tsar spent 213 holiday days on Finnish islands. days on Finnish islands.

Royal visitors have also been seen since in our Royal visitors have also been seen since in our island areas – in 1909 even two emperors at the same island areas – in 1909 even two emperors at the same time. This was when Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and time. This was when Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Emperor William II of Germany met in Virolahti in Emperor William II of Germany met in Virolahti in southeastern Finland. In 1985 Emperor Akihito of southeastern Finland. In 1985 Emperor Akihito of Japan cruised with his wife on S/S Heinävesi from Japan cruised with his wife on S/S Heinävesi from Punkaharju to Savonlinna. A couple of years earlier Punkaharju to Savonlinna. A couple of years earlier King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden had King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden had

Foreign visitors to the islandsT

The world-famous Savon linna Opera Festival enjoys an island setting in Savonlinna, a town also rich in other islands.

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taken the same voyage; they have also holi-dayed in Åland.

How about the not so blue-blooded tourist – what can the Finnish islands offer them?

If I were in the tourism business – and a bit of an idealist – I would market Finland as the country where every visitor can fi nd the island that perfectly matches their per-sonal interest profi le. “Fill in this form and you will fi nd the island among the 178,947 islands on offer that was made just for you!” Even the most demanding of nesomaniacs (from Greek ’nesos’ = island, ’mania’ = mad-ness) would fi nd a remedy for their health-promoting condition in the diversity of the Finnish islands.

Nature travellers can choose from islands providing adventures and experi-ences with a strong presence of the wilder-ness or the open seas. Cultural islands fre-quented by foreigners include Suomenlinna and Seurasaari, the tourist islands outside Helsinki, as well as the Olavinlinna opera island and Moominworld off the coast of Naantali. The creator of the moomins, Tove Jansson (1914-2001), was herself also a nesomaniac. She spent her childhood sum-mers on an island, and in 1965 she bought an outer island of her own. A solitary rowan tree grew on the barren rocky islet.

With capacity for almost 200 passengers, S/S Suomi has been operating on Lake Päijänne since 1906. A million people take a freshwater or coastal cruise in Finland every year.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan greeting islanders on board S/S Heinävesi. A lake or sea voyage is often included in the tour programme of prominent foreign visitors.

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■ When departing from Helsinki, Utö is further away than the Canary Islands. First you drive for three hours – and you should always allow for some extra time for queuing for the Nagu ferry. Then a four-hour crossing on the commuter ferry Aspö, calling at Nötö, Aspö and Jurmo. Finally you get your feet on the Utö jetty and the sign on the red wooden building wishes you welcome to Finland, the EU.

Utö is not a large island; there are more than a thousand islands that are larger in Finland. Utö did not receive its fi rst permanent residents until the 1740s when two sea pilots and their families moved there from Jurmo, although pilots had lived on the island in the summers since mid-17th century. In 1754 the lights of Finland’s fi rst lighthouse went on on Utö. The lighthouse was blown up during the

1808–09 war, and the current lighthouse was com-pleted on the old site in 1814.

Although so far from the rest of the world, Utö’s history has been strongly affected by outside tur-moil. Its entire population has been evacuated twice: fi rst during the Crimean War in 1854–55, then at the start of the Winter War between Finland and Russia in 1939. Although Utö has had military signifi cance throughout the centuries, it did not develop into “the army island” until the post-WWII years. Now aged 76, a young medical non-commissioned offi cer called Toivo Kovanen arrived at the Utö garrison in 1953. Born and bred inland, Toivo was not particularly happy with island life to start with.

– I’d send my transfer application in every week, but they were always rejected.

This is where Finland ends and begins – UtöThe island of Utö has the most maritime climate in Finland. It enjoys the shortest winters in the country, less than 90 days, while winters in mainland Finland last for 110 to 210 days. Utö sum-mers are 115 days long: only a week shorter than in southern Finland. Days when the temperature rises above 25°C are, however, rare on Utö: on average there is only one in a summer while mainland areas such as Helsinki enjoy 10 to 15 hot days.

On a September morning in 2004, Toivo is arriv-ing home from a net-fi shing trip off the harbour of Utö. His wife Solveig has laid out a breakfast spread for the family and the visitors. The conversations take place in Finnish and Swedish. The family spent a while living in Turku but then returned to Utö. When they moved to Turku in 1966, their seven-year-old son Timo would have wanted to take along his be-loved playing spot, the rock pool. Unfortunately his father had to reject this transfer application.

Toivo’s own transfer applications had become less and less frequent only to come to a complete halt when he married the local pilot’s daughter Solveig Franzén in 1958. Their daughter Hanna acts as the tourist guide, museum manager and local organiser on Utö.

– I used to be a teacher in Turku but now I intend to stay on Utö. I hope to earn a living on the island.

The Utö museum operates in a stone house built in 1753, which originally was the lighthouse keepers’ home. Utö has had a school since 1884. In the fi rst year it had 21 pupils. The sixteenth – and longest-serving – teacher of the school is Brita Willström, who only has four pupils today. Since 1977 this has been a Finnish-speaking school. Utö really began to change from a Swedish-speaking to a Finnish-speak-ing island in the 1960s when the number of military staff grew.

Utö has two church rooms, with the older one being located in the lighthouse. A new chapel was completed at the eastern point of the island in 1909. Nearby is also the cemetery that was opened in 1962 and that has sand that was brought across on barges from Pargas. Before this, the islanders used to be bur-ied on Jurmo.

People drink water purifi ed from sea water on Utö – just like on the Canary Islands. Electric cable was laid from the mainland in 1996. A diesel unit had been working away since 1935 – fi rst to provide light for the lighthouse and then to bring electric light to the village houses in 1943. The fuel fi rst used on the lighthouse was oil made from lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus) oil; later on the rocky waters were lit using fuels including hemp oil and paraffi n oil.

Life on Utö has been fi lled with major ups and downs. The biggest boom was during the fi rst dec-ade of the 20th century, only to be immediately followed by one the most diffi cult decades in the island’s history when the pilot administration underwent Russianisation. Many families left the island, many others became unemployed.

Today’s main threat is the major cuts in the func-tions of the army. The lights of the garrison will be dimmed by the end of 2005, leaving Utö without a single army employee. If this results in the disap-pearance of the shop, the school and health care, the future is looking grim.

Utö’s future has been discussed within contexts including EU projects. Attempts have been made to create a vision of the sustainable development of the island, to make the island a more pleasant living environment and to create the prerequisites for the arrival of new residents on the island. The future of Utö is, however, fi rst and foremost in the hands of the local residents – permanent and recreational alike. It is gratifying to fi nd that there seem to be plenty of people interested in moving onto the is-land, provided that they can fi nd a home. The islands are highly appealing. The media have also provided positive support to the islanders’ efforts. People are working hard to safeguard Utö’s development in the new and changing conditions.

Toivo Kovanen has his roots deep into the island of Utö, although he entered the island as a young soldier and was not born and bred there.

Utö’s autumns and springs are the longest in Finland. The waters surrounding the island usually freeze over in January, but during mild winters there may not be any ice. In addition to the weather station, Utö also houses Finland’s southernmost air quality monitoring station.

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■ When Esko Mielikäinen leaves for the meeting of the local municipal council, he has to travel either 20, 45 or 85 kilometres to the Savonlinna Town Hall. His point of departure does not change: he leaves from the Pietolansaari island in the southeastern corner of Lake Pihlajavesi.

– The distance by road is 85 kilometres. In the summer I take my boat, and it’s only 20 kilometres. In the winter, when I can travel on ice roads, the journey is 45 kilometres.

Pietolansaari got a cable ferry connection in 1989. Lake Pihlajavesi has a total of seven cable fer-ries on private roads that are currently used by ap-proximately 60,000 vehicles a year. The number has doubled in less than a decade.

Esko Mielikäinen is starting his fi fth term as a municipal councillor, and he has held municipal posi-tions of trust since 1969. Those days the municipality was still called Sääminki, and was later merged with Savonlinna in 1973. He fi nds the merger a positive thing in many ways.

Lake Pihlajavesi has fourteen inhabited islands without a permanent road connection. They have approximately 140 year-round residents. The per-manent population of the islands of Lake Pihlajavesi was at its highest in the 1930s when the ten largest islands had 750 residents. In 1950 there were still 700 of them, in 1975 only 280.

But by no means have the islands of Lake Pih-lajavesi become deserted – quite on the contrary. There are a good four hundred holiday homes on the islands that have year-round residents, and these

The Pietolansaari jetty was built in 1975 for the commut-er ferry Sääminki. The service ended with the introduction of the ferry on the private road in 1990. Savonlinna has the nation’s biggest concen-tration of private ferries.

The Savonlinna island suburbhave around 1,600 regular users. The other islands of Lake Pihlajavesi have an even a greater number of residential residents.

Esko Mielikäinen stresses the fact that there are also plenty of undeveloped areas remaining as two thirds of the 3,819 islands in the lake do not have a single holiday home.

Prehistoric dwellings have not been discovered on the island of Pietolansaari, but around fi fty of

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them are known in the Lake Pihlajavesi area. It is likely that a village of huts also used to stand on Pietolansaari thousands of years ago. First slash and burn may have taken place in the 600s or 700s to prepare the soil for growing barley. Rye may have been sown in the soils of Pietolansaari in the 13th cen-tury. The earliest record tells us that Esko’s forefather Sipi Laurinpoika Mielikäinen was the farmer here in 1560–1607. Now the Mielikäinen house is owned by the 15th generation, and the next two generations live in a new house on the southwestern coast of the island.

– I’m sure farming will continue in one form or the other. At the moment we’ve got fi fteen dairy cows and beef cattle.

Many a working group and research project has addressed the relationship between permanent resi-dence and nature conservation in Lake Pihlajavesi. Areas included in the coastal protection programme cover around 4,000 hectares. The future of the Saimaa ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) is a key issue: the current population in Lake Pihlajavesi is almost one hundred seals.

– One summer I saw a ringed seal twenty-seven times. During one of my crossings to Savonlinna I spotted four of them, he tells us.

– There are fi ve houses left on this island. Fields have already been afforested, for example on Sau-konsaari. If we intend to preserve the traditional village landscapes, we will also need other support, not just agricultural subsidies.

The traditions of the island villages of Lake Pihlajavesi have received special research attention on the Kokonsaari island. The houses would be found in the interior, whereby the coastal forests protected the fi elds and created a favourable microclimate. On many farms the buildings were placed around an enclosed farmyard. The only lakeside constructions were boat sheds and jetties. Fishing was, however,

an important means of livelihood, at best every farm had a seine net of its own. The most important seine catch was vendace (Coregonus albula) that was caught in the summer and early autumn on the open waters and after the autumn spawning season near the shore. In the winter, nets were cast for burbot (Lota lota), northern pike (Esox lucius) and pikeperch (Stizostedion lucioperca).

The water quality of Lake Pihlajavesi deterio-rated strongly in the 1960s. Fishing equipment be-came slimy and no-one would drink the water – the lakewater had traditionally been drinkable. With the start of the appropriate purifi cation of wastewater from Savonlinna and other urban areas, the situa-tion took a turn for the better. Today Lake Pihlajavesi again has areas on the open lake that can be safely used for taking household water.

Kokonsaari boasts a land-scape of national value. Traces of subsistence economy and traditional agriculture are still clearly visible. The island has fi ve inhabited farms and an-other fi ve used as summer homes.

The endless coves and inlets of Lake Pihlajavesi offer plenty of sheltered spots for boats. Even larg-er vessels can moor on the steep rocky shores.

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The largest sea island: Mainland Åland (685 km2)

The largest lake island: Soisalo (1,638 km2). The sec-ond largest lake island in the world, only beaten by Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron (2,766 km2)

The largest river island: Kiettare in Kokemäenjoki river (18 km2)

Finnish island recordsThe westernmost island: Märket (Eckerö), 19° 08’ 02’’. Also the westernmost point of Finland.

The easternmost island: an unnamed island in Lake Virmajärvi in Ilomantsi, 31° 35’ 20’’. Also the eastern-most point of Finland.

The southernmost island: Bogskär (Kökar), 59° 30’ 10’’. Also the southernmost point of Finland.

The northernmost island: an unnamed island in Tenojoki river west of Nuorgam, 70° 04’ 06’’. Only 2.5 km south of the northernmost point of Finland.

The island at the highest altitude: There are several small lakes at altitudes exceeding one kilometre on the fjells of northwesternmost Lapland, but these have no islands. A small island can be found when you go down to 808 metres to Lake Lossujärvi (Loassojavri).

The largest lake on an island: Kulkemus on Parta-lansaari, 583 ha in area.

The largest island in a lake on an island: There is a 76-ha island in Lake Saamaisjärvi on the island of Soisalo, but the island has no lakes, and no other Finnish islands in lakes on islands are known to have lakes, either.

The largest river on an island: The Vaahtovanjoki river on the Soisalo island has a water body covering 118 km2, with 45 lakes with around 50 islands. The en-

Tetrimäki Furniture Vision is one of the businesses based on Finland’s largest island Soisalo, today part of the town of Kuopio. The company is known for its repro-ductions of furniture designed by the cel-ebrated Finnish archi-tect Eliel Saarinen.

Canoeing off Kökar, Åland. Kökar is Finland’s southern-most municipal-ity and has 300 residents. The Åland Region has over 8,000 islands.

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tire island of Soisalo has over 700 lakes with a couple of hundred islands on them.

The highest-rising island: The highest peak of Mahlatti, the largest island in Lake Inari rises 134 metres above the lake surface. Paalasmaa, the larg-est island in Lake Pielinen, is a couple of metres lower, and Judinsalo in Lake Päijänne 9 metres lower. Orr dalsklint, the highest point of Mainland Åland, is 129 m above the sea level and would rank third among the lake islands. Thus the top of the list is very even. – The tallest island in the Baltic also used to belong to Finland: The Lounatkorkea of Hogland rises to 158 metres.

The lakes richest in islands: If Great Saimaa is re-garded as one lake, it boasts a grand total of 13,710 islands. Lake Inari has 3,318 islands, Päijänne 1,886. The number of islands in Finnish lakes over 100 km2 in area (totalling 46) is 37,952, i.e. almost 40% of all of the islands in our freshwater areas. – Saimaa is not, however, the lake richest in islands in the world: Lake of the Woods on the US-Canadian border has 14,742 islands. Vänern, the largest lake in Sweden, has 12,285 islands.

The majestic Ukko is an ancient sacrifi cial island of Lapland’s indigenous Sámi people in Lake Inari.

The island with the biggest population: The list is topped by Mainland Åland with a population of 20,600. The next two are two urban islands in Helsinki: Lauttasaari with 19,000 inhabitants and Laajasalo with 16,000. Soisalo has a population of ap-proximately 12,000 – a little more than Kotkansaari, which forms the centre of the town of Kotka.

The island with the biggest population without a permanent road connection: headed by Mainland Åland, the top of the league is highly even: Hailuoto 972, Storlandet in Nagu 910 and Suomenlinna 844.

The largest uninhabited island: Mahlatti in Lake Inari, 21 km2.

The island of Ulkokalla off the municipality of Kalajoki in western Finland rose from the sea in the 15th century. It has been a lighthouse is-land since 1856, and fi shermen have lived on the island in the summers.

Finland’s longest bridge connects the island of Replot to mainland Korsholm. The cable-stayed bridge is 1,045 m long, its pylons rise 82 m above the sea level, and it has 64 cables. The bridge replaced the former ferry connection in 1997.

Publisher: The Island Committee, Ministry of the InteriorText: Esko KuusistoTranslation: Käännös-Aazet OyLayout: Jyrki Heimonen/Aarnipaja KyPrinted by: Nordmanin kirjapaino, Forssa 2007

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www.intermin.fi /island • www.intermin.fi /saaristo • www.intermin.fi /skargard

The Island Committee, Ministry of the Interior, PO Box 26, 00023 Valtioneuvosto, FINLAND